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☆ Who's going to pay $50 a month for a sports streamer that doesn't have all the sports?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

What we still don't know: Why would someone pay $50 a month for this? AdvertisementAfter all, if you like paying for streaming TV, you can pay $73 a month for YouTube TV. So, again: If you're a big enough sports fan that you want to pay for streaming TV, don't you also want all of the sports on streaming TV? And, yes: Spending $50 a month on something instead of $73 a month on something is meaningfully cheaper. Now he's asking them to pay an extra $50 a month — and not get everything they want.

Persons: Lachlan Murdoch, it's, —, Here's, Murdoch, Brendan McDermid, they're, They're, he'll Organizations: Service, Fox Corp, Disney, Warner Bros, Comcast, YouTube, REUTERS, NFL, CBS, league's AFC, NBC, Amazon, Media Locations: America

☆ Why Apple's $2 billion fine is a $80 billion problem
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Apple's stock fell Monday morning after EU regulators slapped the company with a $2 billion fine. The fine is part of the EU's push to get Apple to open up its App Store. Investors are trying to figure out how much opening the App Store will hurt the company long term. Which means, at the moment, that Apple's $2 billion fine has cost it some $80 billion in market cap. But as recently as a month ago, the conventional wisdom was that Apple's fine was going to be something in the $500 million range.

Persons: —, that's, they've, there's Organizations: Apple, Service Locations: Europe

☆ Google's Gemini flop raises the question: What exactly do we want our chatbots to do, really?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Internet culture chronicler Max Read has a particularly sharp assessment about all of it: Yes, this is dumb. are all that interesting or enlightening questions compared to something like "well, what did you want the computer to do?" I can't really even come up with situation where Gemini's refusal to say that Hitler is worse than Elon Musk has some terrible downstream effect. And, also — The Gemini debacle really is a debacle. AdvertisementMaybe we can all take a breath and slow down, and figure out what this tech really can, and can't do.

Persons: Elon Musk, Hunter, Ted Cruz, Max Read, Pol Pot, Martha Stewart, Hitler, they've, chatbots, Marc Andreessen Organizations: Big Tech, Google, Twitter Locations: New York

☆ Google is starting to feel like any other business, and staging a comeback won't be easy
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. In today's big story, we're looking at how Google has gone from the tech industry's vanguard of cool to just another boring company . AdvertisementGoogle has long stayed atop Silicon Valley's volatile popularity contest — but the best place to work in tech is starting to feel like any other business , Business Insider's Hugh Langley and Lara O'Reilly write. Bureaucracy, an aversion to risk, and deference to Wall Street over employees — things Google long eschewed — have become the norm. The latest example is the debacle surrounding Gemini — its flashy new AI model that faced backlash for being too "woke."

Persons: —, Rebecca Zisser, Hugh Langley, Lara O'Reilly, Alistair Barr, Sundar Pichai, Hugh, Lara, Mateusz Wlodarczyk, BI's Peter Kafka, it's, David Rosenberg, Gary Shilling, Snowflake's Frank Slootman, Ozgur Hakan Aslan Toyota, Boxabl, Elon Musk, Tesla, Hewlett Packard, Dan DeFrancesco, Hallam Bullock, Jordan Parker Erb Organizations: Service, Google, Business, Gemini, Meta, Big Tech, OpenAI, Corporations, Nvidia, SEC, Universal Music Group, Universal, BI Locations: —, New York, London

☆ Music on TikTok is disappearing amid battle with Universal Music Group. Can it make photos work?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

TikTok is losing access to Universal Music Group's songs, including from artists like Taylor Swift. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementTikTok, the platform best known as "the app where people dance around to music," is losing a lot of music and is going to lose more. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: TikTok, Taylor Swift, —, Drake, Bunny Organizations: Universal Music, Service, Street, Universal Music Group, Universal, Business Locations: UMG

☆ Google's mission is organizing the world's information. Its 'woke' AI debacle prompted critics to say it's failing.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewSince its inception, Google has had a mission statement that is now practically enshrined as lore: "To organize the world's information and make it accessible and useful." Its AI, critics say, risks suppressing information instead by being too "woke." AdvertisementGoogle's AI troublesGoogle has more than 90% of the search market, giving it dominant control over the world's information flow online. Advertisement"The original mission was to index all the world's information. In a blog published Friday, Google vice-president Prabhakar Raghavan acknowledged some of the images Gemini generated turned out to be "inaccurate or even offensive."

Persons: —, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Gemini, Peter Kafka, Adolf Hitler, Elon, David Sacks, Critics, Sam Altman, Andrew Caballero, Reynolds, Bilal Zuberi, Brad Gerstner, Microsoft —, Elon Musk, OB1CCZHan3, Prabhakar Raghavan, overcorrected, Raghavan Organizations: Service, Google, Business, Craft Ventures, Lux Capital, Microsoft, Elon Locations: Menlo Park, AFP

☆ Wait. Why is Reddit losing so much money?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Last year, according to Reddit's newly filed IPO documents, the company generated $804 million in revenue and lost nearly $91 million. But it's still a lot of money to lose selling a free product. AdvertisementOne big, obvious answer: It has been hiring a lot of engineers and spending a lot of money on their salaries. (Note: There are some dumb stories floating out there about Reddit CEO Steve Huffman getting paid $193 million last year. The best argument I can make in their defense is that Reddit is still adding a lot of users and that more users equals more ad money.

Persons: —, it's, Condé Nast, that's, Steve, Greg Doherty, Steve Huffman, Elon Musk, Reddit, they're, Alex Heath Organizations: Service, Facebook, Business, Twitter, Google

☆ Google has another 'woke' AI problem with Gemini — and it's going to be hard to fix
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewGoogle spent much of last week getting hammered for supposedly creating a "woke" AI chatbot and eventually apologized for "missing the mark." AdvertisementBut it's also going to be a problem for Google because it has already said it is trying to influence the way its AI produces results. And that's going to be red meat for anyone who wants to argue that Google — or any other Big Tech company — is "too woke." Last week, after getting similar criticism about the way Gemini handled race when it came to AI-generated images, Google "paused" Gemini's ability to create images. Pulling Gemini altogether would be a considerable black eye for the company, and one I think it will be incredibly reluctant to do.

Persons: —, Ben Thompson, Gemini, Hitler, Elon Musk's, Thompson, Sundar Pichai, Marc Andreessen, it's, they're, Prabhakar Raghavan, Raghavan, Google's, I'm Organizations: Service, Business, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Big Tech, Gemini

☆ This chart shows why the new sports streamer is going to cost $50
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . We don't know a lot about the big sports streaming service that's supposed to launch this fall — like what it's going to be called and who's going to run it. But we're pretty sure it's going to be priced around $50. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: —, Fox — Organizations: Service, CNBC, Disney, Warner Bros, Business

☆ The music labels are still suing the internet companies. That's a warning for the AI industry.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewThe AI boom has been accompanied by AI lawsuits filed by content owners like The New York Times against big AI companies like Open AI. That was when we had lawsuits like Metallica vs Napster , or MGM vs Grokster , or Arista vs. Lime Group . And when Congress proposed laws like PIPA and SOPA , and when music labels and Hollywood studios were trying to get broadband companies to help them stop illegal downloads . Turns out, things are not so settled, and the music labels are still arguing — successfully, apparently, — that broadband companies can be held liable for bad behavior enabled by their broadband.

Persons: —, Cox Organizations: Service, New York Times, Napster, Reuters, Business, Cox Communications, U.S, Circuit, Cox Enterprises, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, Metallica, MGM, Arista, Lime, Hollywood Locations: Richmond , Virginia, Virginia

☆ Why Jack Dorsey's failure led to Elon Musk's arrival at Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Elon Musk's chaotic takeover of Twitter was enabled by Jack Dorsey's hands-off leadership style. AdvertisementThe world has been able to watch the chaos that ensued after Elon Musk bought Twitter, more or less in real time. AdvertisementI talked to Wagner about Twitter under Jack Dorsey, and Twitter and Musk, and what happens next. Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey quiet quitsPeter Kafka: What was your sense of Jack Dorsey before you got into this project? I think Elliott forced his hand on that front and made the job really, really un-fun for him.

Persons: Elon, Jack Dorsey's, Kurt Wagner, Musk, —, Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, Kurt Wagner's, Wagner, Dorsey, Peter Kafka, He's, That's, it's, Elliott, Covid, Jack, JOSH EDELSON, he'd, Twitter, Antonio Masiello, “, There's, they've, Esther Crawford, I'm Organizations: Twitter, Service, Elon, Bloomberg, Elliott Management, San, Getty, Journal Locations: San Francisco

☆ HBO is making it harder to watch John Oliver for free — the opposite of what Comedy Central is doing with Jon Stewart
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Discovery is delaying "Last Week Tonight" YouTube streaming to push viewers to Max. Every Sunday night, John Oliver hosts "Last Week Tonight" on cable TV. When it plays on YouTube, where HBO runs it without ads, it doesn't make any money. So hoping that making "Last Week Tonight" a little harder to see for free fits pretty easily into that pattern. AdvertisementThe move also runs counter to the way TV networks are treating comedy #content in general.

Persons: Max, —, Jon Stewart, John Oliver, Oliver, — John Oliver, @iamjohnoliver, David Zaslav, I've Organizations: Warner Bros, YouTube, Service, Warner Bros Discovery, HBO, MAX, Netflix, Big, Max Locations: YouTube's

☆ Xbox is now on sale at Target for less than it was on Black Friday
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( Kenneth Niemeyer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewThe Xbox Series S is on sale for cheaper than it was on Black Friday after reports Microsoft would share Xbox exclusives with other gaming platforms. The Xbox Series S, which normally retails at $299, is on sale at Target for $219, or about $80 off. The Series S is already the budget version of the current console, selling at a retail price of $200 cheaper than the Xbox Series X, which boasts higher-level graphics performance and more storage. The deal clocks in even lower than the lowest Black Friday deal for the console, which saw them going for $229.99 on sale at Dell, according to IGN. Sony has sold more than 50 million PlayStation 5 consoles since its release in November 2020, while the Xbox Series S and Series X have sold about 21 million units, IGN reported .

Persons: —, Peter Kafka Organizations: Service, Microsoft, Target, Business, Dell, IGN, Xbox, Sony, Financial Times, PlayStation, Nintendo, Activision Blizzard, Netflix

☆ Why Paramount's problems should worry the rest of the media giants
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Paramount is in trouble: The one-time media giant's ad sales are plummeting, and so is its stock price. This week, the day after the company broadcast the Super Bowl to a record-setting number of viewers, it announced companywide layoffs. AdvertisementBut why should you, a person who doesn't work at Paramount, care about the future of the company? But even under the best-case scenario, it would be hard for Paramount or any other traditional media company to survive the transition to streaming and digital. Which is why two of the biggest traditional giants — Time Warner and Rupert Murdoch's Fox — took the opportunity to sell most of themselves in 2016 and 2017.

Persons: Lucas Shaw, they're, Shaw, Sumner Redstone, Redstone's, Shari, — Time Warner, Rupert Murdoch's Fox — Organizations: Paramount, Bloomberg Businessweek, Hollywood, Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, — Time Locations: Silicon Valley, China, Hollywood

☆ Coming to your streamer soon: more ads
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Many streamers followed Netflix's lead and launched without ads. But now Netflix and its competitors all offer a lower-priced version with ads. Now many streamers are trying to increase the number of ads they show per hour. AdvertisementRemember when one of the big selling points of streaming was that it meant you weren't seeing ads? This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: —, Max, HBO Max Organizations: Netflix, Service, HBO, Disney, Business

☆ Suddenly, there's real competition for broadband internet
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

AdvertisementThere are some people who really, really like Super Bowl ads. I’ve heard for years about the idea that wireless carriers would eventually take on the big broadband companies by selling “fixed wireless” broadband — broadband you can get via 5G airwaves using a box you put in your window instead of relying on cables buried in the ground. If I were, I would know that competition from fixed wireless has been keeping the broadband guys up at night for some time. The broadband guys are happy to tell you why they think their internet is better than the wireless internet the telco guys are selling. But for the moment, we know the cable guys — that is, the broadband guys — are no longer taking the fixed wireless guys for granted.

Persons: —, hadn’t, I’ve, Starry, Craig Moffett, MoffettNathanson, that’s, they’ve, Moffett Organizations: Service, Mobile, Super Bowl, Biden White House, Verizon, Comcast Locations: Boston

☆ Here's why Microsoft is going to let you play Xbox games on rival consoles
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Big news for (some) video game players: Microsoft is going to stop making you use Microsoft devices to play (some) Microsoft games. AdvertisementVery short summary of the console video game business: It's common for video game hardware makers to also own or license games that are exclusively for their devices. The idea is that a single game (or several games) will be enough reason for a gamer to buy a specific device. Maybe, as Warren reports, Microsoft will also announce new hardware plans at the same time it makes the new software change. But it's hard to see how the games move alone is going to be anything more than Microsoft accepting reality.

Persons: Tom Warren, Mario Kart, I've, It's, Warren Organizations: Service, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Business, PlayStation, Mario, Xbox, Activision, Netflix, Apple, Samsung

☆ Paramount's Super Bowl livestream problems are a warning for Netflix and the new mega sports streamer
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-12 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Paramount, which broadcast and streamed the game to what was probably the biggest audience in the game's history. And Paramount, whose Paramount Plus livestream conked out for some users, who took to the internet to complain. AdvertisementWithout more detail from Paramount, it doesn't make sense to speculate about the cause of Paramount's problems. Like Netflix, which struggled to show a live episode of "Love is Blind" less than a year ago.

Persons: —, Taylor Swift, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, ESPN's, it's, Roger Lynch, Lynch, Condé Nast, Comcast's Peacock Organizations: Service, Kansas City Chiefs, Paramount, San Francisco 49ers, Business, HBO, Big Tech, Netflix, NFL

☆ Jon Stewart is coming back to a broken TV landscape
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-12 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Welcome back to TV, Jon Stewart. But since Stewart left in 2015, the "Daily Show" audience has gotten very small, and very old. So here, to spell it out, are three charts from Nielsen showing the decline of prime-time TV, the decline of late-night TV, and the fact that the people who still watch conventional TV are … not young. Big picture: Conventional TV used to attract 103 million people a night back in 2015. Here's what has happened to average viewership across prime-time TV — including both broadcast and cable networks — since 2015.

Persons: Jon Stewart, Stewart, —, Trevor Noah, Stewart's Organizations: Nielsen

☆ The Super Bowl is still definitely happening at 6:30 ET — and we're still writing these stories?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Super Bowl starts at 6:30 p.m. Eastern on Sunday when the Kansas City Chiefs play the San Francisco 49ers. CBS will broadcast the event, which will be played at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. Doesn’t matter: Publishers around the world are putting up versions of this story, anyway — with the same keyword-laden text. AdvertisementAs I’m typing this, NBC is currently Google’s top-ranked search result for “What time is the Super Bowl," followed by CBS , which — again — is actually broadcasting the event. And yes: One reason that publishers do these things is because “What time is the Super Bowl?” is a query many people have.

Persons: Taylor Swift, They’ve, —, There’s, I’m, St . Paul, we’re Organizations: Super, Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers, CBS, Allegiant, Publishers, Business, NBC, Kentucky’s, Hearst, New York Times, Google, St ., St . Paul Pioneer Press Locations: Las Vegas , Nevada, Louisville

☆ The biggest winners and losers from the new sports streaming service
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. ESPN, Warner Bros., and Fox announced plans this week for a new sports streaming service set to launch this fall . That could put an end to cable TV as we know it , Nathan McAlone, Business Insider's deputy media editor, writes. Ashley Rodriguez, BI's media editor, has a breakdown of the six biggest questions about this new sports streamer . Games on YouTubeTV, for example, are noticeably delayed compared to cable TV broadcasts .

Persons: —, Katie Notopoulos, David Jensen, Nathan McAlone, it's, Ashley Rodriguez, Peter Kafka, BI's, Peter, Nathan, Ashley —, We've, Ashley, Fox, Rick Wilking, Reuters Leon Cooperman, Marc Rubinstein, Yi Huiman, Xi Jinping, Jordan Hart, It's, Justin Metz, Blackstone, Bob Iger, Donald Trump, Dan DeFrancesco, Hallam Bullock, Jordan Parker Erb, George Glover Organizations: Business, Service, ESPN, Warner Bros, Fox, ESPN2, ABC, FOX, Peter : Media, Nathan, Warner Bros ., NFL, Cable, Comcast, Paramount, Reuters, Signature Bank, New York Community Bancorp, Securities, Commission, that's, Apple Vision, Microsoft, BI, of Foreign Labor, Apollo, KKR, Bain Capital, Disney, Epic Games, ConocoPhillips, US Locations: New, China, Beijing, New York, London

☆ New sports streamer will change TV as we know it — and may start an industry fight. Execs tell me what they really think.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The new sports streamer that Disney, Warner Bros., and Fox announced Tuesday is a really big deal that could reshape TV . And then they charge the big pay TV distributors a ton to carry their broadcasts of those games. Which may explain why, up until Tuesday, they hadn't told any of the pay TV companies or sports leagues about their plans, industry executives tell me. But if you're the kind of person who's buying an antenna to watch sports TV, you're not going to buy this thing anyway.) Also: The big TV guys didn't like it in 2015 when HBO started competing with them by selling itself as a stand-alone service.

Persons: they're, Nathan McAlone, Nathan, Justin Casterline, Peacock, John W, I'm, Michael Nathanson, —, they'd Organizations: Service, Warner Bros, Fox, Business, NFL, CBS, NBC, Hulu, YouTube, Disney, ESPN, Warner Bros ., Comcast, Sports, McDonough, Getty, NBA, TNT, TBS, DirecTV, Verizon, AT, HBO

☆ ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros are launching a new sports streaming service. It could change TV forever.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Now combine them on one streaming service. That's what's coming this fall, via a new joint venture, co-owned by Disney, Warner Bros. AdvertisementPeople who are already watching sports on Disney-owned ESPN and the other channels that are joining the joint venture won't lose access to those games, which will stay on the linear channels. Icon Sportswire/Getty ImagesIt's worth noting that all three TV giants have tried a version of a streaming joint venture before. The company that was formerly known as Time Warner, which is now part of Warner Bros.

Persons: —, That's, Disney's, Fox, Time Warner Organizations: Service, ESPN, ABC, Fox, TNT, TBS, Disney, Warner Bros, Fox Corp, Business, NFL, —, CBS, NBC, Discovery, Hulu, Time

☆ YouTube has become one of the biggest pay TV services in the US
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

YouTube TV is now the fourth-biggest pay TV service in the US. It's here now: Its YouTube TV offering has become one of the biggest pay-TV services in the US. YouTube TV — which, like conventional pay TV, sells a bundle of dozens of channels — now has "more than 8 million" subscribers, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan announced Tuesday morning. Now comes the other part of the equation: As YouTube TV has grown, conventional pay TV has shrunk. And it's partly because some pay TV providers — like Comcast — have stopped trying to convince customers to keep or get pay TV.

Persons: —, Neal Mohan, there's Organizations: Google, YouTube, Service, Charter, Comcast, DirecTV, NFL

☆ Apple's Vision Pro is meant to be used when you're alone. You look weird if you wear it in public — at least for now.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Apple thinks you're going to use the Apple Vision Pro by yourself. AdvertisementLast week, Apple debuted its Vision Pro headsets, which meant lots of people took the opportunity to show the world what it looked like to wear Apple Vision Pro. (Heads up: If you call it "The Apple Vision Pro," Apple won't like it .) But a video of yourself wearing an Apple Vision Pro in your house isn't enough to stand out in the Attention Economy. If you really want to get some eyeballs, you need to show yourself wearing the Vision Pro outside.

Persons: Apple, — Organizations: Apple, Service, Apple Vision

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